Dumbledore's Death
by FairlightMuse
Summary: A series of responses written for the challenge, Dumbledore's death, hosted by the Guardian newspaper.
1. Chapter 1

Written for the Guardian challenge; Dumbledore's death in the style of...another author.

* * *

Dumbledore's Death in the style of Longfellow;

Listen my children and you shall hear  
Of Dumbledore's death and shed a tear  
On the sixth of October in ninety-five  
Hardly witch nor wizard is now alive  
Who remembers that famous day and year.

He said to staunch Filch, " If Deatheaters march  
By land or lake to Hogwarts to-night  
Hang a lantern aloft in the belfry arch  
Of the Hogwarts Tower as a signal light, --  
One if by land, and two if by lake,  
And I on the opposite shore will wait,  
Ready to fly and raise the alarm  
To save Harry Potter from Voldemort's harm,  
To save all the children with protection charms."

Then he said, "Good-night!" and with a soft "poof"  
Quietly vanished from castle roof,  
Just as the moon rose over the trees,  
Something softly rustled in the breeze  
The Womping Willow, stately and grim,  
A phantom shadow, with each branch and limb  
Across the moon like a fiendish whim  
And a huge black trunk, that was characterized  
By gnarls and burls of unearthly size.

Meanwhile, loyal Filch from high castle walls  
Wanders and watches, listens in halls,  
Till in the silence around him it falls  
The sound of Deatheaters far off in flight  
The swish of robes, and the throb of hate,  
And the malevolence in the atmosphere,  
Fearlessly they approach on the night.

Then he climbed the tower of Hogwarts Castle,  
By the secret stairs, with stealthy tread,  
To the belfry chamber overhead,  
And startled sweet Fawkes from his perch  
On the somber rafters, that round him made  
Masses and moving shapes of shade, --  
Yet onward and upward, he did crawl  
To the highest window in the wall,  
Where he paused to listen and look down  
To the glistening lake far below  
And the moonlight flowing over all.

Beneath, on the grounds, the Willow stood,  
In its sentinel pose on the hill,  
Wrapped in silence so deep and still  
That he could hear, like a whispered breath  
The watchful night-wind, soft as death  
Creeping along the castle's breadth,  
And seeming to whisper, "All is well!"  
A moment only he feels the spell  
Of the place and the hour, and the secret dread  
Of the lonely belfry and is misled;  
For suddenly all his thoughts are bent  
On the shadowy something out of sight,  
Where swiftly flies on the wings of the night, --  
Far off a movement soft belies  
Villainous fiends who on the night-wind ride.

Meanwhile, impatient to face the tide  
Of evil forces, with heavy stride  
On the opposite shore paced Dumbledore.  
Now he patted his beard down,  
Now he gazed at the landscape 'cross the shore,  
Then, impatiently, paced anon,  
And turned and fingered his waiting wand;  
But mostly he watched with eager eye  
The tower silhouette against the sky,  
As it rose far above the castle dark,  
Lonely and spectral and sombre and stark.  
And lo! as he looks, on the belfry's height  
A glimmer, and then a gleam of light!  
He nods mute acceptance, the hour is near,  
He lingers and gazes, till full on his sight  
A second lamp flickers bright and clear.

Then standing before the grey grizzled mage,  
A shape in the moonlight, a bulk in the dark,  
And flashing, in the darkness, a glinting, a spark  
Reflecting the moonlight in eyes filled with rage;  
That was all! And yet, through the gloom and the light,  
The fate of all wizards hung suspended that night;  
And between two lonely figures, wrong or right,  
Destiny set the last scene on the stage.  
"So at last, Dumbledore, the moment is here",  
Said the figure, "Do you tremble with fear?"  
Said Dumbledore, meeting the baleful stare,  
"I fear no foul blackguard of evil design;  
I beg you, relent; the triumph is mine."  
And drawing his wand, he brought it to bear.

It was twelve midnight on the stroke  
When the first blue flash cut through the darkness.  
The dark wizard just twitched his cloak  
And Dumbledore's strike fell to the ground  
Where it withered with a hissing sound,  
Disabled and rendered harmless.

The next instance a double flash  
Filled the air with brilliant blinding light.  
They say that the deafening blast  
Was heard and felt for miles that night.  
Not one trace of Dumbledore was found  
Just two marks upon the ground,  
One black, one white,  
Indelibly inscribed in the shore for all to see  
Where two wizards came to face their destinies.


	2. Death in the form of a Play

**A/N-**This version was the first that I wrote, but did not get submitted due to it's word count. It was kind of fun to write, but had no particular style to it. So. . .that makes it just a another AU death scene.

* * *

Death

Scene: - An expanse of railroad track, set across a delectable expanse of scenic English countryside. By the track, three figures, black robed and white masked, stand posed. A fourth figure is tied to the track. Not too far in the distance, there is heard the sound of the approaching train.

DEATH EATER 1 : Hark! What is that noise I hear? It seems to be the train, I fear!

DEATH EATER 2 : Tell us about what you know, Dumbledore!

DUMBLEDORE: ( from the track) That would take me another lifetime!

DEATH EATER 3 : Spare me your sarcastic wit! The train comes, you fool! Tell me where the boy is hiding.

DUMBLEDORE : Ah! But I know hundreds of boys. Of which do you speak?

DEATH EATER 2 : Be not a martyr for hopeless causes! Tell me where he is hidden, and I will

spare your life!

DUMBLEDORE : To trade my life for that of another? That would be no life worth living!

DEATH EATER 3 : This is no time for heroics! ( takes out a wand and hexes Dumbledore , who cries out in agony.)

DUMBLEDORE : Torture me Malfoy! ( Yes, I know it is you! ) I will never be an aid to your wickedness!

DEATH EATER 1 : Clickety-Clack, Clickety-Clack, What cometh along the railroad track?

DEATH EATER 2 : Allow yourself to die then, and leave us to your yet un-feathered fledglings. We'll pick their bones, two-by -two until someone confesses the secret.

DUMBLEDORE : If that is what you believe; then you are mistaken. Tragically so. My secrets, such as they are, shall die with me, and the ones who call themselves my

followers will lay you to rest, each and every one.

( The sound of the train is now loud, and the Death Eaters take a step backwards as the engine rounds the bend; rearing up huge and oily black . )

DEATH EATER 1 : If it is, that you won't tell, then time has come to say. . .farewell.

DUMBLEDORE: Alas. Oh woe. 'Tis the end of me. Come death and deliver me, for there is never a hero around when one is so desperately needed!

( The Hogwarts Express passes through the scene, in a fury of steel and steam, blotting from our view temporarily the four figures. When it is entirely departed, there is only the three masked figures, there cloaks blowing in the wind as they bowed their heads momentarily towards the track. Not a scrap of cloth or a strand of beard that was Dumbledore's was left in sight on the abandoned rail.)

DEATH EATER 2 : Fool.

DEATH EATER 1 : Dumbledore the Lionhearted, has now at last bravely departed.

DEATH EATER 3 : Unmask gentleman, and bow your heads. This is a grave moment, yet darkly ironic, for Dumbledore the noble has been unwittingly killed by the very children he has fought so valiantly to protect. Say farewell, to a fool, my friends. Adieu.

( The Death Eaters Disapparate)


End file.
